The invention relates to a housing for a comminution machine which can be used in a system for comminuting recyclable scrap materials.
Housings of this type are known in the art and described, e.g., in DE 24 06 204, DE 26 05 751, DE 25 43 769, DE 27 13 177, DE 32 34 298 (EP 0 103 778), DE 36 24 826 and DE 40 16 295 (EP 0 458 059). Although the link between the wear characteristics of the various housing components and the comminution process is quite complex, the basic design of such housings has essentially remained unchanged.
Certain aspects of the housings have been improved; for example, the design of the attachment of the interchangeable wear plates to the housing walls, as described in DE 24 06 204; a rotor which can be lifted with the housing cover, as described in DE 25 43 769; the discharge section for the material at the outlet side which creates a KONDIRATOR(copyright) effect, as described in DE 27 13 177; a discharge grate which is pivotally supported in the housing, as described in DE 32 34 298 (EP 0 103 778); and a swivel grate outlet as proposed in DE 40 16 295 (EP 0 458 059).
Although the solution according to DE 36 24 826 proposes an improved housing with some of the features of the present invention, the major objective of DE 36 24 826 was to reduce the costs for retrofitting a comminution machine. The effect of the wear characteristics on the housing as a whole was not addressed.
The major problems associated with current comminution machines, however, relate to controlling the relatively severe wear caused by the comminution process. This problem has been addressed in PCT 0 735 922 (PCT/EP94/04126), which describes a rotor for a comminution machine providing particularly improved wear characteristics due to improved inactive wear parts, like protective caps; the improvement has been successfully tested in practical applications, but is limited to the rotor. When the mutual interaction between the feed process for the scrap material to be comminuted (P 197 08 185.1), the actual comminution process and the discharge of the comminuted material is taken into consideration, then a housing with conventional components is no longer sufficient for providing a cost-effective and energy efficient operation.
It is the object of the invention to provide a housing which includes:
tools, which are secured to a rotor supported in the housing and which form active wear parts, such as hammers, and an anvil forming a counter tool, as well as inactive wear parts in the form of interchangeable wear plates which are secured to the rotor and also to the inside of the housing;
an opening for feeding the material to be comminuted and at least one grate forming another inactive wear part;
an ejection door for discharging heavy parts as well as an impact wall segment facing the ejection door and also forming an inactive wear part; and
housing sections which are arranged horizontally in at least one plane,
wherein at least one of the housing sections can be pivoted outwards about at least one pivot point and wherein the wear characteristics of the housing and the comminution process are matched to each other.
It is another object of the invention to provide consistent service and/or maintenance intervals for the operation. It is yet another object of the invention to provide cost-effective and energy-efficient operating conditions and improved spare parts logistics.
These objects of the invention are solved by connecting at least sections of the wear parts to the housing with bolts attached to the respective wear parts and thereby forming different zones corresponding to the different wear characteristics during the comminution process. Wear parts which are more wear-resistant than the other wear parts, are arranged around the rotor on the side walls of the housing, so that these synergistic features, i.e. the design, material composition and/or mutual arrangement of the wear parts provide balanced matched wear characteristics of the housing and the rotor with approximately uniform maintenance intervals. An upper housing section has a bent continuous thick plate; wear parts which are more wear-resistant than the wear parts mentioned previously, are secured to the side walls of a center housing section between the upper grate and the rotor; and wear parts which are more wear-resistant than the latter wear parts, are disposed on the side walls of the center housing section and a lower housing section in the region around the rotor.
The invention thus advantageously provides differentiated wear zones which are matched to the wear characteristics.
In an embodiment of the present invention, an upper grate includes unbreakable reinforced rods, an upper edge of the opening is coated to improve wear resistance, a continuous wear segment is disposed between the anvil and a lower grate, and the lower grate has lateral upwardly pointing edges which abut the wear parts and the wear segment, respectively, to protect against penetration by comminuted material.
Additional advantageous embodiments, as described below, emphasize the particular industrial applicability of the invention with respect to service, maintenance and/or the exchange of worn parts. Additional advantageous embodiments combining known features with the characterizing features of the present invention provide additional solutions for the problems and the object of the invention.
The invention, as well as variations thereof, are described hereinafter with reference to an embodiment.